Tottenham so happy to have persuaded Andre Villas-Boas to return after comeback against Manchester City

Go back to English football? Not a chance, Andre Villas-Boas might have
thought after Chelsea brought him in as the new young Messiah and then
dumped him on the old dust-heap of Roman Abramovich’s whims.

With reputation still intact, AVB might have accepted a less stressful role in Portugal, Italy or Spain. Mainland Europe, surely, would be more understanding of a coach who squatted on the touchline and talked of the need for teams to “solidificate”.

At the end of his time at Stamford Bridge, Villas-Boas was at risk of managerial death-by-mockery. But Spurs ignored the most dismissive verdicts on his brief time as an Abramovich employee and entrusted their upwardly-mobile club to the man who pulled off a fine victory over Manchester City here.

Praise be to them, praise be to Villas-Boas, who recoils a bit when you ask him whether days like these vindicate his decision to give the Premier League another try.

“We still have to reach our objectives for this season to be considered a full success,” he says. By which he means a Champions League place: a hope that seemed to have expired until three inspired substitutions and a tactical rejig brought three Tottenham goals in less than seven minutes.

Clearly no definitive report can be filed on Villas-Boas’s impact at White Hart Lane until the top four names in the league are known. But already we can appreciate his courage in coming back for another go, as well as his intellectual depth, which enables him to problem-solve in tight games.

His grasp of diplomacy has also improved from the days when he alienated some senior players at Chelsea by overplaying his hand as Abramovich’s sparky young reformer.

Assuming command from Harry Redknapp after Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart had left was no cushy number, especially as Spurs began this campaign short of goal-scoring ammunition.

Emmanuel Adebayor lacks the consistent application level and quick feet of a top-four striker. Jermain Defoe, who put Spurs in front here with a thumping shot, is a valuable asset but often makes more impact from the bench. No need is more urgent than for Villas-Boas to be granted the funds to acquire a Champions League-calibre striker this summer.

Spurs overcame this obvious deficiency by freshening up the midfield on the hour mark, switching to 4-3-3 and moving Gareth Bale from a central attacking position to the right, where he subdued City’s left-back, Gaël Clichy, and curled in a sweet cross for Clint Dempsey to equalise before scoring the third himself with a golf chip over Joe Hart.

City’s strength and counter-attacking were too much for Spurs before Villas-Boas took off Scott Parker and Gylfi Sigurdsson for Tom Huddlestone and Lewis Holtby. Nine minutes later he hooked Adebayor for Defoe. City’s manager, Roberto Mancini, was passive by comparison. He watched the game float away.

The defending champions tamely passed the chance to Manchester United to regain the title against Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

“In the second half the team found its rhythm, more spaces, better passing. And the impact from the boys on the bench was tremendous,” Villas-Boas said. “It really helped our game improve. We managed to find the spaces to finally unlock City.

“First, it’s credit to the players to come in with the right spirit. All of those three have done well for the team but couldn’t feature from the beginning. So credit their mentality for their willingness to help the team: Tom with his passing, Defoe with his runs and Holtby with his organisational skills and his determination. It was really good to see.”

Tottenham’s altered shape was not new. “We played 4-3-3 against Basle and Everton. Today it impacted the game,” Villas-Boas said. “But [the win] is not because of the change. Emotionally after the equaliser we were hyped up and City were a little but more unstable.”

Spurs have reached plenty of high notes this season, with the marvellous Bale especially, but the suspicion always was that they would drop away if Arsenal staged a pressure-free late dash, and the fear of Abramovich’s wrath concentrated minds at Chelsea. Tottenham’s form had levelled off since the back-to-back home wins over Arsenal and Inter Milan in early March.

Defeat here would have emboldened Arsenal’s fans to say their rivals lack the guts and the squad-depth for a spring battle.

With the sixth highest turnover in the Premier League – and the sixth highest wage bill – Spurs are above where they should be in the table, if salaries are the main determinant (and, spookily, they often are).

A fifth-place, Europa League finish would lower the high spirits of this rousing victory, but it would not cast doubt on Villas-Boas’s appointment, which looks geared to a pattern of steady progress for the whole institution.

“The club is moving forward every year and all us players want to be playing in the Champions League, week in week out, playing against the best teams,” Bale said. “I think we showed that today. That’s why we are going to push until the end of the season to get into the top four.”

Spurs travel to Wigan on Saturday, then face Southampton at home before motoring to Stamford Bridge on May 8.

“That game against Chelsea could be the decider,” Villas-Boas said. But one decision already looks safe. He was the right man for this job.